Sex and the cinema. To say that the two are intertwined would be a vast understatement. Whether through direct representation or veiled innuendo, honest exploration or commercial exploitation, few are the films throughout history that have not to some degree explored or reflected the centrality of sex to human existence. This series, however, zeroes in on films that have taken a very specific \u2013 and idiosyncratic \u2013 approach to exploring the topic of sex and erotic experience. Ignoring the thousands upon thousands of movies in which sex is depicted (more or less explicitly) or visually suggested (more or less frankly), \u201cLet\u2019s Talk About Sex\u201d showcases those films in which sexual experience is conjured purely through the spoken word, by individuals verbally sharing their thoughts, feelings, and memories. Their testimonies demonstrate not only the emotional weight and psychological provocation that sex retains in most cultures, but also the (erotic) power of language \u2013 even, or perhaps especially, in a visually saturated society \u2013 to stimulate the imagination in ways that are sometimes more vivid and emotionally charged than imagery can attain.<\/p>\n
The films included in \u201cLet\u2019s Talk About Sex\u201d encompass many different viewpoints, but most are concerned with sharing marginalized perspectives and experiences: female, queer, non-white, the elderly, the disabled, and others. As such, many of these works not only counteract the atmosphere of taboo that so often attaches to discussions of sex in general, but explicitly bear witness to sexual experiences or attitudes that are generally suppressed or silenced in the culture at large.<\/p>\n
Co-programmed by Jed Rapfogel (Anthology) & R\u00f3is\u00edn Tapponi (Founder and Director of Habibi Collective).<\/p>\n
Special thanks to Danielle Arbid; Brian Belovarac (Janus Films); Rodrigo Carneiro; Cinenova; Cathy Cook; Cassandra Einstein; Jill Godmilow; Jeanne Graff; Bob Hunter & Livia Bloom Ingram (Icarus Films); Tim Lanza (Cohen Film Group); Edda Manriquez (Academy Film Archive); Seth Mitter (Canyon Cinema); Sandrine Neveux (Villa Albertine); Mireia Sallar\u00e8s; Nina Verneret; Gustavo Vinagre; Todd Wiener & Steven Hill (UCLA Film & Television Archive); and Lana Wilson.<\/p>\n
Please note: Jean Eustache\u2019s UNE SALE HISTOIRE (1977) was central to the conception of the series, but is currently unavailable due to an impending U.S. re-release.<\/em><\/p>\n THE MATCH THAT STARTED MY FIRE + THIS SMELL OF SEX + TOWARDS TENDERNESS<\/strong><\/p>\n July 9 and July 21 at 6:45pm<\/strong><\/p>\n Cathy Cook Danielle Arbid Alice Diop Total running time: ca. 85 min.<\/p>\n This Film Series also includes\u00a0Sylv\u00e8re Lotringer’s VIOLENT FEMMES on\u00a0Thursday, July 7 at 9:15pm<\/strong><\/p>\n Sylv\u00e8re Lotringer Preceded by: \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":59217,"menu_order":0,"template":"","app_discipline":[219],"app_city_tax":[217],"app_event_type":[239],"class_list":["post-59219","app_event","type-app_event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","app_discipline-cinema","app_city_tax-nyc","app_event_type-film"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nTHE MATCH THAT STARTED MY FIRE
\n1991, 20 min, 16mm-to-digital
\nThis unconventional comedy explores women\u2019s sexuality through candid stories of sexual discoveries, fantasies, and pleasures. Visually stunning, yet unnerving, the film is a visual montage of found industrial films and original footage of swirling skirts, monumental machinery, ocean life, and befuddled reaction shots.<\/p>\n
\nTHIS SMELL OF SEX
\n2008, 20 min, digital. In Arabic with English subtitles.
\n\u201cMy friends in Beirut openly tell me the details of their most secret, passionate, and obsessional sexual experiences. The film unfolds against a black screen, occasionally punctuated by the images of an old Super 8 film showing a timid young woman undressing.\u201d \u2013Danielle Arbid<\/p>\n
\nTOWARDS TENDERNESS \/ VERS LA TENDRESSE
\n2016, 39 min, digital. In French with English subtitles.
\n\u201cIn Alice Diop\u2019s eloquent, searching TOWARDS TENDERNESS, four young men living in the Paris suburbs speak to her of their fronts of macho and misogynistic stereotypes \u2013 and the struggles to find, express, and understand love hidden behind them. A compassionate, clich\u00e9-dismantling investigation into masculinity, sexuality, and identity from one of France\u2019s most accomplished young documentarians\u2026the film is structured by the men\u2019s own words, startling for their brutality, vulnerability, and insight in turn. Diop worked hard to gain their trust, then recorded the interviews as part of a private workshop. In the final film, the conversations take on an even more striking intimacy, something like the protagonists\u2019 interior monologues.\u201d \u2013LE CIN\u00c9MA CLUB<\/p>\n
\nVIOLENT FEMMES
\n1998, 28 min, digital. In English and French with English subtitles.
\nWhen Catherine Robbe-Grillet, the legendary Parisian dominatrix (as well as actress and writer), was invited to visit Sylv\u00e8re Lotringer\u2019s loft on Front Street, she had no idea she\u2019d be meeting Mlle. Victoire, her American counterpart, let alone that their encounter would be videotaped. At first reluctant to face the camera, Robbe-Grillet gradually realizes that although the two don\u2019t speak the same language, they share the same desires. A deft ballet of words, blood, and seduction.<\/p>\n
\nJohn Samson DRESSING FOR PLEASURE (1977, 25 min, 16mm-to-digital)
\nBanned by London Weekend Television, DRESSING FOR PLEASURE explores the fetishizing of latex, leather, and rubber clothing and centers around Atomage \u2013 the infamous fetishist magazine \u2013 and Sex, Vivienne Westwood\u2019s and Malcolm McLaren\u2019s King\u2019s Road emporium, the only shop to openly sell latex fetish-wear and a well-known hangout for punks, including, of course, the Sex Pistols. A unique and fascinating documentary of a frantically creative period in British history.
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